Legacy 1x06: The Past Returns
by Lady Dawson
Summary: Complete. Bianca is back, allied with Susan's father, while Susan herself is kidnapped and the brothers must find a way to rescue her with Bobby and Brandon. Meanwhile, Bobby's identity is finally revealed to the person he wants least to know . . . Susan.
1. Kidnapping and Revelations

**Legacy: The Past Returns**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter One: Kidnapping and Revelations

Susan Dawson could only stare in a mixture of fascination and horror as the young woman stepped out of the flames, her cool dark eyes passing over the scene in front of her carelessly. Instinctively, she moved closer to Chris, her heart starting to beat faster in panic as she recognised the young woman who stood in front of her.

Oh, she remembered her. She remembered her _well_. This wasn't just an assassin; this was the same assassin that had come to kill her and Ryan six years ago, right after they had first received their powers. Hired, not by demons, but by the Elders, who were determined to stop them because they became too powerful. They had believed that the twins would not serve on the side of good, but rather of evil because of their absentee father.

Granted, if that Elder Curtis had not warned them, they probably wouldn't have survived the attack, but the point was that the Elders had hired her. How had she gotten killed? Susan wondered as she looked over the assassin carefully. Ryan and Susan hadn't managed to vanquish her when she had failed to kill them, mostly because they were new to their powers at the time and didn't know their full potential.

Susan felt Chris's hand tighten around hers and she glanced at him, seeing the odd expression on his face. Why would he know an assassin? she wondered. Unless . . .

_Bianca,_ she realised, a moment too late. This wasn't just because she had been the assassin who had tried to kill her and her brother; it was because she'd had personal relations with Chris. Susan forgot how to breathe for a moment; the phoenix witch who had tried to kill her and her brother had dated her boyfriend once upon a time.

She had to admire Fate's sense of humour.

"Hello, Chris," Bianca said lightly as Bobby shifted slightly behind her. As Susan glanced at him, she could see the terror in his eyes and sensed the fear coming from him.

_Focus, focus, Susan,_ she told herself. _This is no time to panic. Think, find a way out of here. _

Wyatt muttered a swearword next to Chris and Bianca's eyes moved to him and she laughed. "Both Halliwell brothers, right here when I make my graceful return," she said with a smirk. "This certainly is a pleasure." Her eyes moved from Wyatt to Chris, then fell in Susan, moving to her hand clasped in Chris's before returning her gaze to look at Susan straight in the eye. "And who might you be?"

"None of your business," Susan said rudely. Chris's hand tightened in hers in warning and she sighed; he was right, unpleasantness was only going to get them killed faster.

Bianca's eyebrows went up, however, and she smirked. "Got a tongue on her, this one does," she remarked as she reached down and pulled an athame out of her pants' leg. "Shall I cut it out for you?"

Susan drew power from the storm that was starting to brew outside; when a storm was on the way, she could command it from miles away and draw power from it. "You could try," she responded as lightning started to crackle from her fingertips as all the demons conjured up energy balls and Susan felt Chris step on her foot warningly. "What?" she whispered so quietly that none of the demons caught it.

Wyatt moved in front of his brother so they could talk without interruption. "When I tell you to, start blasting everything in sight," Chris whispered. He looked at Bobby. "Got something that you can vanquish them with?" Bobby nodded. "All right. Now, when I say so, start blasting and run for the door. Whatever happens, don't look back."

"No way," Susan whispered back. "We're in this together. Which means, we're coming back for anybody who falls behind."

Bianca laughed. "Oh, look, she's giving away orders," she said mockingly. "Are you going to fight us, little witch? Do you really mean to fight us?"

Chris was shaking, but Susan wasn't sure whether it had to do with anger, rage, or pain. Maybe all three. She swallowed slightly, feeling the slight pain in her stomach as she looked away from her boyfriend, her eyes flying towards Bianca for a minute. What had happened between them before she had come into town? she wondered. An odd, unfamiliar feeling surged up through Susan and she frowned; was it jealousy? That was really weird; she couldn't think of a time when she _had_ been jealous.

Then again, she'd never had a boyfriend before, especially one who had a demonic ex-girlfriend back from the dead. This was an entire new field for her.

"What's the matter, boys?" Bianca inquired. "Too stunned to speak? I had the ability to make men tongue-tied in high school," she added. "It's nice to know that I still have the ability."

Chris met her gaze evenly. "I don't have anything to say to you, Bianca," he said firmly. Bianca raised an eyebrow and Susan felt bile rise through her throat; what was he thinking, going out with a girl like that? "We sorted through all of that the last time we spoke."

"Yes, right before you vanquished me with your mother's potion," Bianca said dryly. "That did quite ruin the relationship that we had, Christopher." Susan really wanted to do something violent, but unfortunately, she was too decent to actually do it. "Let me guess, she's your new girl? Going to turn your back on her, too, once you're finished with her?"

"Leave her out of this!" Chris said warningly as Susan stared at him, wishing that she knew what was going on here. Torn between truth and lies, Susan glanced towards Bobby, who was looking at her worriedly. He smiled at her faintly, giving her a reassuring look before looking away.

"Can't do that," Bianca responded. "See, I'm a demon, Chris. Doesn't matter which way you slide it, I am a demon and vengeance is in my blood. You really didn't think I'd come back and just let you get out of here without some justice done on my part, did you?"

Before Chris could respond, she shimmered out and Susan saw Bobby being thrown sideways out of the corner of her eye. She was about to whirl around when she felt a blade on the base of her neck and she gasped, alerting the brothers' attention.

"Ah, ah, ah!" Bianca warned Chris as he raised his hand to blast her. "I can kill her in half the time it takes you to even think about it. Fortunately for her, she'll be away from here before that time."

Susan gasped at the odd sensation of shimmering and she watched as she was taken away from Chris, Wyatt, and Bobby, the three men in her life now that she cared about most, the fourth being Ryan and he was gone now. Gone to a place that she was pretty sure that she was going to follow pretty soon. If Peter and Bianca had their way, anyway.

Being part-Whitelighter, Susan guessed that she was _probably_ not supposed to be shimmering, because the moment that she landed, she collapsed onto the ground, momentarily confounded. This gave Bianca the opportunity that she needed to yank the younger girl up and thrust her into a chair. Ropes appeared and tied around her.

"What now?" she mumbled as Bianca, satisfied, replaced the athame back where it belonged and started pacing across the room, waiting for something. This left Susan time to dwell on the memories that had come back to her just a little while ago—when she first laid eyes on Peter Connelly.

_"I've got a funny feeling," Susan announced as she lay on her bed, her legs dangling over the edge as she stared up at the ceiling. She sat up and looked at her twin brother, hugging a pillow to her chest. _

_Ryan glanced over at her, his blue eyes looking amused. "Oh, yeah? About what?" he wanted to know. _

_"Dunno," Susan admitted dryly. This caused her twin to grin slightly and she smiled. "But it's like . . . everything's about to change pretty soon. As though we're moving towards the end of something and heading towards the beginning of something new. And exciting," she added with a grin. _

_"You always have weird feelings," Ryan told her. "And they're never what you expect them to be." _

_"Shut up!" Susan complained, throwing the pillow at him. Ryan caught it easily and placed it on his own bed, leaning comfortably against it. "It's just . . . I don't know, Ry, it's just that this feeling is different. Something's about to happen that's going to change our lives forever." She sighed. "It's going to happen soon and everything is going to change." _

_Ryan was quiet for a long moment, then he grinned. "Well, maybe we'll finally have some more brothers or sisters, what do you think? Then I'll finally be able to get away from you. After eighteen years, I'm getting a little tired of you." _

_Susan stood up and crossed the room and he dived out of the way as she caught him, tickling him mercilessly. "Oh, gods, no!" Ryan said, laughing as Susan giggled, tickling her brother as he collapsed onto the ground. That was her brother's one flaw; he was ticklish. _

_"Susan, Ryan, come down!" their mother called from downstairs in the kitchen. "Supper's nearly ready and I need you to set the table!" _

_Still laughing, Susan released her brother. "We'll be down in a minute, Mom!" she yelled back as the twins lay on the floor for a minute, catching their breath from their laughter. _

_But all laughter died on her lips as Susan felt her mother's protection wrap around her, encasing her in its light. Ryan looked up as he felt it, too, and Susan looked towards her brother, fear rushing through her. What had happened to cause their mother to shield them from whatever dangers were there with them? _

_Without warning, Susan felt the protection break and she jumped to her feet, not wanting to consider the possibility of why the protection had broken. She knew the reason, but didn't want to think about it. She didn't want to believe it, not until she saw it. _

_"Susan, come back!" Ryan shouted as he raced after her. She stopped, because the moment he spoke, she saw her mother's dead body lying in the kitchen, a pool of blood forming around her and Susan felt faint. A man appeared in front of them and Susan shrank back. He had killed their mother, one of strongest people Susan knew. If he could kill Celandine Dawson, then she was as good as dead, too, and so was Ryan. _

_Susan felt Ryan grasp her arm and then she felt a familiar, yet odd sensation running through her body and let out a sigh of relief. Ryan was using his invisibility power to get them away from there. That was Ryan, always thinking on his feet. As they moved invisibly through the air, heading towards the door, Susan felt them hit a wall and she was flung back, visible, onto the floor, Ryan right next to her. _

_Shaking her head, Susan wanted to ask her brother what went wrong when she heard him scream. "Susan, move!" Before she could react, Susan felt Ryan push her sideways and as her head hit the wall, she blacked out. _

_She must've woken up at some point, because the next thing that she knew, she was being loaded up into an ambulance. There was a wrecked car nearby and a crowd of people swarming around her. And out of the crowd, she saw one that was very familiar. _

Bobby Connelly had been there, watching her, always with that longing expression on his face, one that Susan had never been able to understand. Never been able to grasp, but now that she knew the truth about her family's death, she started to think about everything that she knew about him, about everything she'd learned about him since meeting him.

_"I'm a friend and that's all you need to know right now," he replied, gesturing for them to follow him._

_"Believe me, Brooke, you'd never believe me," he told her softly. "You would never believe the truth if I told you." _

_Parker stared at his cousin, slightly wounded. "I cannot believe you would say that she's out of my league," he complained. Chris let out an exclamation. "She's hot, Chris, what else is there?" _

_Bobby let out a groan. "Oh, I did not need to hear that!" he mumbled. Susan snorted, looking at him._

_"No, I'm serious," Bobby said quietly. "If Aisling had managed to trap me there, then she would've told my dad about what I've done and then he would've had her kill me so he wouldn't have to do it himself. He couldn't care less about shedding his own blood." _

_"But—" Chris stared at the kid, shocked. "Your dad would kill you? How—how could he kill his own son?" _

_Something flickered behind Bobby's eyes for a minute and he glanced sideways at Susan. "It would not be the first time," he said quietly._

As she saw all the pieces of the puzzle, Susan suddenly understood what she should have known from the beginning. And maybe, somewhere in the back of her mind, she had. She just hadn't wanted to see it.

Bobby Connelly was her younger brother.

**--Opening Credits--**

Title Song: "Chariot" by Gavin Degraw

Drew Fuller as Chris Halliwell

Wes Ramsey as Wyatt Halliwell

Michelle Trachtenberg as Susan Dawson

Anne Hathaway as Brooke Murphy

Hayden Christensen as Brandon James

and Shawn Ashmore as Bobby Connelly


	2. Secrets

**Legacy: The Past Returns**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Two: Secrets

"How could you let Susan get _kidnapped_ by your demonic ex-girlfriend?" Brandon James asked Chris weakly as he pushed himself off of the couch. Still a bit weak from being subject to Peter Connelly's torture chambers, Brandon was finally starting to get his strength back.

"Let?" Wyatt repeated, glaring at him. "No, we did not _let_ her. You know, we were a little bit busy being surrounded by demons and focusing on getting out of there alive. And do not yell at my brother because your charge is being tortured or gods know what else." He winced at his words and cast a quick glance towards Chris.

The younger Halliwell was sitting at the table, flipping through the Book of Shadows so fast that it was making Wyatt's head spin. Finally, he slammed the Book shut, making the other three jump at the sound, and ran his hand over his face. "There is nothing in here," he muttered softly.

"Don't worry, little brother, we're gonna get her out of there," Wyatt said reassuringly. At times, it seemed like Chris was the mature one and he was the more reckless and carefree of the two. But other times, Wyatt took his rightful position as the elder brother. "Okay, just relax."

"Relax?" Chris repeated, glaring at his brother furiously. "I'm sorry, did you say relax? Because my girlfriend is currently being held hostage by the phoenix witch who tried to kill us both, who was brought back from the dead by the same man who's been trying to kill all of us for months. Excuse me, Wyatt, but this is not exactly the best time to be calm and collective!" He stood up so fast that he knocked the chair over and he swore aloud, walking away and placing his hands on the counter, taking a deep breath to stay calm. "If he's done anything to her . . ."

"He's not going to kill her, Chris, he would've done already if that's what he wanted," Wyatt said patiently. "I mean, he had the opportunity before we got there, didn't he?" He looked towards Bobby for confirmation, but the younger witch looked sceptical.

"I doubt it," he admitted. "He probably could've done it while she was unconscious, but . . . even with me there, he should've. Before now, he has done everything in his power to get rid of her—or any of you guys—but he's keeping Brooke unconscious and keeping Susan alive and to be perfectly honest, that scares me even more than when he was trying to kill them. At least then I knew what was going on."

Brandon looked towards Bobby cautiously, his eyes narrowed. "So," he said conversationally, "why isn't your dad letting you in on his little secrets anymore?" Bobby looked towards him.

"I don't know."

"Or maybe you're not being as honest with us as you would like us to think," Brandon countered as he glared towards the kid, who met his gaze defiantly without a trace of anger in his eyes.

"You know, if we're going to talk about keeping secrets, then you might want to sit this one out," Bobby told him. Chris glanced towards them curiously; the two were acting like siblings or at the very least relatives.

To everyone surprise, Brandon let out a deep flush at Bobby's comment and glared at the younger boy, but kept his mouth shut. "Okay, then," Wyatt said, raising his eyebrows at the two. "What do you say that we go down there and send some demons back where they came from and rescue Susan? Then we wake up Brooke, and find a way to destroy the _Grimoire_ once and for all? Sound like a plan?"

"You can't destroy the _Grimoire_," Brandon said, looking towards Wyatt incredulously. "Nobody can destroy the _Grimoire_. If they could, then that thing would have been destroyed years ago."

"There's got to be a way," Bobby said firmly. He looked towards the brothers. "I've got some demonic connections that would probably know. Some high-level Dark priests who don't want my dad taking over in the Underworld. I could ask them if you want me to."

"Let's work on rescuing Susan first," Chris told him, "then we'll worry about everything else." He shook his head, trying not to panic about Susan's fate. "Oh, gods, I hope she's all right."

Brandon sighed. "Don't worry, she'll be all right," he told him. "Dawson women are tough. Sorry I lashed out," he said, looking apologetic. Chris shrugged; in truth, he probably would have fired at Brandon if he had been in his position. "Anybody got any ideas on where they might be holding her hostage at?"

"Well, they wouldn't go back to Connelly mansion, that's too obvious," Wyatt mused, looking contemplative, "so the office building. And if they were in the Underworld, then—"

"They're not in the Underworld," Brandon interrupted. "Susan's still on Earth; I can still sense her, I just can't pinpoint it." Everyone turned to stare at her and he shrugged. "Her emotions are sky-rocketing. It's like she's on a roller coaster. They're bouncing all over the city." He shook his head to clear it. "And it doesn't help that I'm still on recovery."

"You can sense her _emotions_?" Wyatt echoed. "Since when did Whitelighters become empaths?" Brandon said nothing, simply looked away and he sighed. "Okay, I'm going to go get the scrying stuff. Chris, you go and get something of hers that will help us locate her. I don't care what it is, her keys, one of her headbands, that ugly sweater that she wears, I don't care, just something. Brandon, you go up and ask the Elders if They have anything useful for us that doesn't involve us getting killed."

The Whitelighter sighed and orbed out, though it took a little longer for him to orb out than normal. Wyatt shook his head, turning to the younger witch. "Bobby, can you go and find out anything you can from the other side? Maybe some demons that don't know whose side you're on yet?"

"Yeah," Bobby muttered as he dematerialised, leaving both brothers alone in the apartment. Chris stood up and headed out towards the girls', opening it quickly and heading towards Susan's bedroom.

He looked around the room and sat down on the bed, looking around the room for long minute, reaching out with his connection with Susan, trying to sense her. But like Brandon, he couldn't pinpoint her exact location. All he could sense was that she was safe, though unnerved and terrified.

"Hold on, Susan," he whispered softly. "Don't lose hope. Wherever you are, I'm going to find you."

--

Bianca paced back and forth across the room, her eyes never leaving Susan as she sat with her hands tied behind her back. "So you're Chris's new girl, are you?" she asked. "That's a little surprising. You don't look that tough, little witch. Just a pathetic, little girl who needs Prince Charming to come and rescue her. Christopher always liked his girls tough."

"Well, he's not complaining," Susan responded. "So how'd you end up getting involved with the Halliwells, anyway? The Elders send you after them because they were afraid they were on the wrong side?"

She wasn't sure what made her say it, but Susan knew it was a mistake the moment she said the words.

Bianca's eyes narrowed and she stopped pacing, staring at Susan for a minute. She blinked one, two, three times and then realisation soared through them. "I know you," she said softly. "You're that little witch I was assigned to eliminate a couple years ago. You and that brother of yours. What was your name again? Sharon?"

"Susan," she corrected swiftly. "Susan Dawson, remember?"

There was a long moment and then Bianca started to laugh. "Well, this is a very fortuitous circumstance, isn't it?" she asked softly. "I finally get to finish the job that I started all those years ago. Where's that brother of yours, so I can do a nice, clean job of it?"

If Susan would've been able to, she would've broken the older girl's nose, but being tied to the chair, she was only able to glare furiously at her. "He's dead," she said shortly, thinking of the brother who had meant so much to her.

Except she didn't have one brother anymore; she had two. She wasn't just a twin, she was an older sister. An older sister . . . the title had so much meaning that she was unfamiliar of. The thought of being an older sister was so new to her, so strange and unfamiliar. For nineteen years, she had been the younger twin, the only daughter, always protected by her mother and brother, never having to look out for herself until they were taken away. And in one instant, she became an only child and an orphan.

And now . . . she had found the father who had never wanted her, only to find out that he not only didn't want to claim her or Ryan, but he didn't want them on this earth. He didn't want them there, so he had decided to get rid of them before they got too powerful to get rid of. And she had found a brother that she had never known about and became an older sister.

An older sister . . . Susan shivered at the very thought of it. She wasn't sure whether to be happy or scared to death by the idea. Or even both, because as much as she cared about Bobby, the idea of being an older sister definitely scared her more than the deadliest of demons.

Except for Peter Connelly. Her father, the man who had impregnated her mother with her and Ryan, then abandoned her and seduced her best friend and her other charge. And then, after eighteen years with no contact from him, he arrived at their house and killed two of its members, leaving his daughter with basically no memory of what had happened. Had it not been for Bobby tweaking the spell, she never would have remembered.

Of course, messing with people's memories like that, it could've done more damage that just her passing out from overload. She was definitely going to have to have a talk with him.

If she survived this, that was. And her chances weren't looking too good at that notion.

"Is he now?" Bianca asked, looking impressed at that particular piece of information. "Well, then, how's it been, living without the twin keeping an eye on you? I never would have thought that you'd be the one to survive. That brother of yours was more of a survivor. Had an awful attitude, that's for sure, but he could hold his own."

"You never answered my question," Susan responded, trying to keep her temper. It was starting to bubble every time that she made a jest towards Ryan and it was becoming harder to keep a lid on it. She could see the sky outside darkening as her mood darkened. "How'd you end up meeting the Halliwells?"

Bianca shrugged. "I was hired to assassinate them. And was promised a good price if I succeeded. Almost as good as the price that I was promised by the Elders to get rid of you. No, scratch that," she added dryly. "It was definitely better than the price They gave for you. And They were going to pay quite a bit. Much more than you're worth, if you ask me."

"I wasn't," Susan responded with a sigh. "Who did the hiring, anyway?"

She was about to respond when the door swung open and Bianca looked towards Peter Connelly as he entered, looking annoyed, before looking back to Susan, eyebrows raised.

"Why am I not surprised?" Susan sighed.

"What happened to the brothers?" Bianca asked him, ignoring Susan. She didn't care; sometimes she could learn things better if they thought she wasn't paying attention.

"Escaped," Connelly said gruffly, "along with that dratted son of mine. Let me ask you something, witch, how were you able to do it? How did you turn him against his own family?"

Susan met her father's gaze evenly and even though she was scared of him more than she'd ever been scared of anything else, she didn't show her fear. She didn't want him to see how scared she was. "You did that yourself," she told him coldly, looking away.

"Oh, I did that?" Connelly snapped, glaring at the young girl. "And pray tell, how did I turn my son against me?"

"Huh. Where should I begin with that one?" she remarked. "How about putting demons all around him every minute of ever day? Or what about keeping his mother under a spell so that she can't take him away from you? Not letting him make his own choices? Forcing him," she added more quietly, yet perfectly audible, "to play a part in your demonic world when he has no desire to live in it?" Connelly was fuming as she said this. "You no nothing of your own son, Mr. Connelly, and I feel sorry for you. Because it is the worst thing in the world, for a child not to know their father. Or, and you can trust me on this one," she added, "for their father not to know them."

"And what would you know about having a father," Connelly remarked, "when your own left before you were even born? I wonder if your mother ever regretted having the two of you. Maybe if she had, then she would've been a lot happier. Perhaps she would've found peace. You were her one downfall, just as you will be to the Halliwells."

Susan shook her head. "You can't turn me against them by your foul tongue," she told him. "My mother loved us, as we loved her, we were her one happiness after my father left her. And I won't hurt Chris or Wyatt. Wyatt is like a brother to me. And Chris . . . he is my reason for being . . . he is my pathway ahead."

Connelly snarled as he struck Susan, whose head was flung back by the force of the blow. "We'll see how long you stand by that one," he snapped.


	3. Another Abduction

**Legacy: The Past Returns**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Three: Another Abduction

Brooke Murphy paced back and forth as she sat in that empty darkness, with not a sole there save for her. It was bad enough that she had been put into a magical coma by her best friend's lunatic father, but he had most likely kidnapped and/or killed them by now, which meant that staying here was ten times worse because she didn't know what was happening on the outside.

"Ryan!" she yelled, praying that her dead boyfriend could hear her. Well, technically former boyfriend, but details aside, he had come to her once before when she was in a trace. That time, it had been intentional, but maybe he could hear her and come help her. It was worth a shot, anyway. Besides, what did she really have to lose? "Ryan, can you hear me? If you do, then please give me a sign! And if you can't, then I'm just stuck here talking to myself, which can be okay, I guess . . ."

With a sigh, Brooke looked around, sitting down onto the ground and placing her head into her hands, her shoulders shaking at the thought of losing her best friend and the friends that they had made here. By now, they had to know what happened to her and if they were so distraught over that fact that it caused Peter Connelly to kill them, then she would never forgive herself for letting him put her into this supernatural coma.

"There's got to be a way out of here," she whispered softly, looking around at her surroundings. "I am not going to be trapped here until he decides to let me out once he's finished dealing with my best friends." She was angry; angrier than she'd been in her entire life. This was the life of her friends that she was talking about. Her sister, her boyfriend, her friend. And she wasn't going to just sit here while their lives were in danger. There had to be a way out of here that she was just not seeing.

"I'm not gonna just sit here and play the damsel in distress," she snarled as she stepped towards the darkness. She could feel the evil energy that was imprisoning her there, but fought it tooth and nail. "I won't just stand around and let you hurt my friends. You've already taken one of the loves of my life, Peter Connelly, I won't let you do the same to this one. And I won't let you take away my sister." Because Susan was her sister, in every sense of the word. And had things turned out differently between her and Ryan, then perhaps she would've _become_ her sister. But things always turn out for a reason. And perhaps that reason was because they were part of the bigger picture; they had a part to play in the Grand Design, perhaps bigger than they realised about.

Brooke's eyes narrowed to slits as she called upon every power she had in her possession to fight the darkness. It squealed and shrieked as it felt the intensity of her rage and fury, but fought to keep her there. She would not be allowed to escape, it had a duty to its master.

"But he will not master me," she growled towards it and released all of her power, shattering the darkness as it howled, trying with all its might to contain her, but Peter had not counted that the fury of a young telepathic witch would have the strength to fight his spell. He had made an error when he tried to contain her; Brooke Murphy was a telepath. So she could never be imprisoned forever in her own mind. Her power would spill out and break free.

The darkness shattered under her power and she embraced the light as it drew her out into the real world, separating her from the darkness that had tried to imprison her there. And Brooke used the last of her strength to destroy the spell and break out of her dark prison.

As she did so, she felt as though she were being pushed back into a different dimension, back into her own body. She was lowered and felt a _click_ as body and subconscious were reunited. Her eyelids fluttered open as she groaned at the headache that had occurred. "I don't want to try that again anytime soon," she muttered as she looked around.

She was lying on a hospital bed with another patient across from her. Brooke shook her head, pushing herself up and groaned again as the room spun around her. "Oh, great," she muttered as she fell back down onto the bed. "This is _so_ not my day."

--

Chris walked into the kitchen, where Wyatt was lying out a map across the table, a scrying crystal lying next to it. "Got something," he announced, handing over one of Susan's necklaces. "So, do we exactly have a plan on getting in and out of there?"

"Have to find out where she's at first, to do that," Wyatt responded as he circled the necklace and crystal around the map, concentrating on Susan. Looking up at Chris, Wyatt sighed. "Look, I don't know how we're supposed to get her out of there, Chris. I really don't. It was bad enough when it was just Connelly, but now Bianca's there . . ."

"Yeah," Chris sighed as he sat down on the table. "I know. How did things get so complicated?"

"Melinda Warren prophesised Mom and the aunts' births, hundreds of years before they were born, and said that they were the almighty Charmed Ones," Wyatt said wryly. Chris laughed as he leaned back in his chair. "Look, I don't think Susan's hurt, okay? You would probably know if she was."

"How would I know?" Chris wondered, raising an eyebrow. Wyatt only shook his head as the crystal started spinning around in a certain spot on the map. Both brothers glanced at each other, then down at the map.

"Why is it doing that?" Wyatt wondered.

"Probably 'cause Dad has put up barriers around where they're at, to prevent someone from scrying to find out where they're hidden at," Bobby's voice spoke up. Chris and Wyatt jumped as they looked around at the younger witch, who joined them at the table.

"Haven't you ever heard of knocking?" Wyatt demanded, shaking his head at Bobby, who shrugged carelessly as he looked down at the map, frowning at the crystal circling.

"That's weird," he muttered, his frown becoming more profound. "I can't think of anywhere even _near_ there that Dad has as one of his hiding places." He sighed. "Then again, I guess he wouldn't use one that I would know about, now that he knows whose side I'm on."

Chris felt sorry for the kid; after all, it wasn't his fault that his father had joined with the forces of darkness. He had just gotten caught up in it all. "Don't worry, we won't let anything happen to you," he assured him.

Bobby shook his head. "It's not me that I'm worried about," he replied. "It's Susan. And my mom. Unfortunately, there's no way that we're gonna get them out of there."

"Did you find anything out while you were down in the Underworld, trying to get information?" Wyatt asked, laying down the crystal to give Bobby his full attention. There was no point in scrying now, anyway, if what Bobby said about Connelly's hideaway was true. Bobby glanced up, startled by the question, and nodded quickly.

"You have absolutely no idea what I found out," he replied. "Turns out that my father thought that Susan's brother was the fulfilment of this ancient prophecy, but it turns out that Susan was and now that Dad's found that out, he wants to eliminate the threat by—"

"Eliminating her," Chris finished up, an uneasy feeling surging through his stomach as he thought about Susan. What prophecy was she meant to fulfil? And why did she not tell him about it?

Or did she not know?

Bobby nodded once. "There's supposed to be four others, with her, that's a part of this prophecy. But ending one would end the threat. I'm not sure what the exact specifics are, but they're supposed to stop this ancient evil. That's why Dad's been after you, because the four of you are part of the prophecy."

"Us?" Wyatt exclaimed, looking agitated. "Jeez, how many prophecies am I supposed to be fulfilling in one lifetime, anyway?"

Chris chuckled slightly at Wyatt before turning to Bobby. "All right, so why is he keeping Susan alive?"

"Because he wants to make sure that the prophecy is never going to come true," Bobby replied, looking at the two of them severely. "He wants all four of you. _Dead_," he added, to emphasise his point.

The blood drained from Wyatt's face and Chris was completely immobile for a moment. Suddenly, all the pieces fell into place. This explained so much. It explained why Peter Connelly had suddenly become interested in them upon Susan and Brooke's arrival. By their coming to San Francisco, the prophecy became that much more a reality.

"All right," he said softly, "we need to forget about this prophecy right now and focus on rescuing Susan. Otherwise, it's not going to matter much. Now, let's get down to this place and start exploring it, see if we can find anything that might lead us to where they're at."

"What about Brandon?" Bobby wondered as he crossed his arms across his chest. "What if he shows up after we leave?"

"Yeah, like the Elders are going to have anything important to say," Wyatt sighed, rolling his eyes.

"They'll be glad to hear that one," Brandon responded as he orbed into the room, almost knocking into Wyatt before straightening. "Sorry," he said quickly. "Anyway, from what I got from the Elders, Susan is being held hostage in some run down factory downtown. I don't think that they're going to be caught unprepared, so we're going to need to find a way to get safely into the factory that doesn't involve us getting killed."

"Tell us something that we don't know," Bobby grumbled. Brandon shot him an evil eye.

"Listen, you—"

"Enough," Chris said in an exasperated voice. "Jeez! Seriously, are you two related are something?"

"No!" Brandon and Bobby yelled at the same time. They both gave each other a furtive look before looking away.

"Could've fooled me," Chris muttered as he orbed out into alleyway where they had scried for Susan at. The others materialised or orbed in beside him and they immediately split up to go in search of this factory that the Elders claimed that she was at.

_Chris!_

Jumping as he heard Wyatt calling him telepathically, Chris cast a quick glance around him before he rounded the corner and walking over to a newspaper stand so that he could talk to his brother without looking like he was talking to himself.

_What's the matter?_ he asked his brother, pretending to skim through some magazines while the vendor eyed him suspiciously. _Did you guys find anything? _

_Yep. There's an old factory, with two guards standing outside of it. Shouldn't be too hard to break into. _Wyatt sounded pleased, but worried. _On the other hand, there should be a bit more demon activity than this, so we should probably find another way in. Don't want to alert any of them that we're here, just in case. _

_Good idea, I'll be there in a minute. _Chris walked away from the vendor, almost to the alleyway so that he could orb to his brother, when he felt, without warning, the back of his head explode in pain.

Just as he collapsed, he saw the vendor shape-shift into a demon before everything went black.


	4. Prisoners

**Legacy: The Past Returns**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Four: Prisoners

As she sat in the cell that Bianca and her father had shoved her into, Susan stared at the green energy that swirled around in front of her, enticing her to walk towards it and touch it. She was half-tempted to, but she had the feeling that it would probably be the last thing that she ever did. Maybe it was her precognition power or maybe it was just purely instinctual, but she didn't dare get up and touch the force field that prevented her from getting out. 

"I hate being the damsel in distress," she grumbled as she stood up and started pacing across the cell, pushing a hand through her brown hair. "Why can't Brooke ever be the damsel in distress? Why is it always me?" She picked up a rock that lay in the cell and hurled it towards the energy field. 

Susan jumped back in surprise at the energy field absorbed the rock and dissolved it into nothing. "Oh, gods," she muttered, taking a cautious, closer look at the energy field. Sure enough, there was nothing left to mark where it had been. 

"You are sick, Peter Connelly," she muttered as she backed away from the energy field. "Definitely sick. I swear, every time that I think you and your kind come up with every evil, twisted thing that you can, you come up with something that is completely disgusting." She shook her head, sitting down on the bench again. "When I get out of here, I'm going to shove you in here, see how you like it." 

Although she probably wouldn't. No, unfortunately, Susan's grace prevented her from doing such a thing. Even though Peter was her biological father and had been cruel to her mother, abandoned her and her twin, killed her mother and twin brother, and put her younger brother through torment for most of his life, she could do that to him. She still had enough integrity not to do that. 

"I've got to find a way out of here," Susan grumbled as she glanced towards the energy field. "But how?" She kicked another rock towards the energy field, watching it dissolve. As it did so, she noticed that the energy field opened up for a few seconds while it dispersed. "Hmm . . ." 

Susan stopped from analysing the energy field as it completely vanished and Bianca walked in with two demons, who were dragging her boyfriend into the cell. "Chris!" She jumped up and raced towards him as he was thrown unceremoniously onto the floor. Glaring up at Bianca, she demanded, "What have you done to him?" 

"Please," Bianca scoffed, "I haven't done anything to him. Actually, it was one of the lesser demons who did it to him—while he was hanging around, looking for you, that is." She grinned. "I can't wait until his big brother finds out what happened to his baby brother. Should be fun." 

Without another word, she walked out of the cell, followed by the two demons, and the energy field came back up with a wave of her hand. Susan shook her head, stroking Chris's hair gently. 

"Chris?" she whispered softly and he groaned slightly at her touch. "Hey, can you hear me?" He gave another groan, but due to the timing, she guessed that this was her answer. "Okay, just try and rest for right now, okay?" 

With a small sigh, she pulled his head into her lap, still stroking his hair while she thought about what Wyatt was going to do when he found out that Peter had both of them now. She winced slightly at the thought; she knew Wyatt well enough by now to know that he was probably going to break down the door and start vanquishing demons left and right, without a plan and with only Bobby for back up. 

Her thoughts returned to her half-brother, torn between anger and frustration with him. How could he not tell her? Obviously, he knew who she was, because he wouldn't have tried so hard to protect her and to help them if he hadn't known. 

"This isn't right," she muttered. "I'm his older sister; I'm supposed to protect him, not the other way around." 

"Protect who?" Susan glanced down and saw Chris's green eyes opening slightly and he groaned, trying to sit up. 

"Hey, take it easy," she instructed as he groaned and fell back against her. "Just take a deep breath and lay still for a second, will you? The last thing that we need is for you to pass out on me again, 'cause I kind of need you awake for this, Chris." 

"You're funny," he said, smirking, but he obeyed. "Where are we, anyway? How'd you get away from Connelly and Bianca?" 

Susan raised an eyebrow, letting out a slow breath. "Um . . . Chris, what's the last thing that you remember?" she wanted to know. He frowned, trying to remember, and then awareness filled into his eyes. 

"You didn't get away," he said, glancing around them. "Aw, jeez. Wyatt's gonna have a cow." 

"Most likely," Susan agreed, glancing towards the energy field that was their cell door again. She was pretty sure that she'd figured a way how to get out of there, but for that, they were going to need Wyatt. "I'm not sure who he's going to kill first: us for getting captured or Peter and Bianca." She paused, then glanced down at her boyfriend. "And speaking of Bianca, what were you thinking, going out with a girl like that?" 

Chris sighed as he stayed where he was. "I don't know," he admitted. "Guess 'cause she was different. Wild, adventurous. She . . ." He shook his head and immediately groaned at the pain. "I'm sorry, Sue. I should have told you about her." 

"Then why didn't you?" Susan demanded, hurt showing in her voice. "Chris, I meant what I said this morning. How long is going to take us to be honest with one another?" Her voice rose slightly with emotion. "Why didn't you tell me?" 

Chris pushed himself into a sitting position so that he could look at her properly. Susan knew she had angry tears in her eyes, but she didn't care at the moment. She wanted answers. 

"I didn't tell you," he said finally, "because I didn't see any point in bringing up the past. Bianca was a part of my life that came before you, but she is not nearly as important as the woman who is my life _now_." Susan stared at him and looked away. 

"Did you love her?" she asked after a long moment, casting him a look. Chris sighed and looked away. "Please, Chris, just tell me the truth. I need to know," she added. 

"Yeah," Chris agreed, pushing a strand of her hair out of her face. "You know, Sue, I'm not really sure of the answer myself. I don't think so, mostly because we found out who she really was and what she was up to before I let my heart go that far. Maybe I did love her, Susan, but she broke my heart," he told her. "And it remained broken until a very beautiful and very valiant witch came into my life last June." 

Susan smiled slightly, looking down at her hands. "You should have told me," she told him. "The key ingredient in any relationship is trust, Chris. If you can't trust me with that kind of information, then how am I supposed to trust you?" Her point was valid and both of them knew it. 

"I know." Chris hung his head. "I'm sorry, Susan. Don't be mad." 

She shook her head. "I'm not mad," she said quietly. "Annoyed, yes, but not mad." Letting out a sigh, she shook her head. "This whole thing is so new to me, you know, and . . . I can't help but wonder what you see in me." Susan looked up and saw Chris's incredulous look. "Why are you wasting your time with me, when you could have any girl that you wanted?" 

"Because the girl that I want is you, Susan," Chris insisted. "You are the one that I want to be with." 

"But why?" Susan asked, desperation in her voice. She couldn't stop the words, because she needed to know the answer. She needed to know. "I need to know why, Chris!" 

He let out a sigh. "Because you have shown more compassion than anyone that I've ever known," he said. "Because you have been so strong, even though you lost your entire family, you still managed to survive. Because you knew who Wyatt and I were when we met and you didn't treat us as though we were anything special. You saw us as who we really are and not just for who our parents are." Chris stared into her eyes and she didn't look away. "And because we're both going to get killed if we don't find a way out of here. But if you need me to tell you why I want to be with you, Sue, then I can go on all night," he said softly. 

Susan smiled slightly at him. "You did pretty good," she said dryly. Chris chuckled as he pulled her into a kiss. She let herself get lost into the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck while he wrapped his around her waist, neither one of them noticing that a certain phoenix witch was watching them nearby, a disgusted look on her face as she shimmered away. 

When he pulled away from her, Chris smiled at her, stroking her cheek tenderly before getting unsteadily to his feet. Susan helped him as they stood up together. "All right, let's find a way out of—what is that?" he asked, suddenly noticing the green energy field. 

"You're just now noticing that?" Susan asked him incredulously. Chris shot her an exasperated look and she shook her head. "It's some kind of energy field; it's supposed to keep us from getting away from here, I think." 

"Great," Chris sighed as he walked towards it. "Well, let's find a way to break it down, shall we?" 

"No, don't!" Susan grabbed him and pulled him away from the energy field. "Sorry," she said to his startled look. "Look, you don't want to touch that thing, Chris. Watch," she said, snatching up another rock and tossing it towards the energy field. 

Chris let out a swear as the rock completely dissolved. "Okay, we need to get out of here, now," he said, shaking his head. "I don't want to be around them any more than I have to." 

"Tell me about it," Susan sighed. "All right, I think I've got a way out of here, but unfortunately, we're gonna need Wyatt's help." She looked at Chris and he looked back at her before closing his eyes, calling telepathically for his older brother. 

--

Bianca stormed into Connelly's office, glaring at him furiously. "You've failed," she snapped. He looked towards the assassin, a half-worried expression on his face. "I thought that you were certain that my coming back would cause a rift between Chris and that little witch of his. Instead, their relationship seems to be growing even stronger." 

"That's not possible!" Peter protested, sitting down in his chair. "Or at least not probable," he muttered under his breath. Bianca glared at him, folding her arms across her chest. "Then we'll have to move up the plan. Imprison the twice blessed and my son, while I'll deal with the nymph girl. There's no way that they can get out of there, not while that spell to contain them in still in place. Besides, all we have to do is get rid of one. That will end the threat and right now, the nymph girl is in the weakest, with her being imprisoned in her own mind." 

"Getting rid of one didn't exactly help the Source when he got rid of the eldest Charmed One, did it?" Bianca pointed out. "All it did was get rid of one and then another took her place. And the Charmed Ones became more powerful, didn't they, with their half-Whitelighter sister?" 

Peter paused, glancing towards Bianca carefully as he poured her a drink, handing it to her. Bianca downed it one gulp. "So, then," he said conversationally, "what do you propose, Miss Malone?" 

"Get rid of all of them," Bianca answered, "while we have them imprisoned. Susan Dawson is weak without her brother and best friend backing her up. Christopher isn't nearly as powerful as his brother is. Get rid of them and then Wyatt will be distraught after the death of a sibling and a friend. Easy to get rid of." 

Peter nodded, considering the plan as he balanced the drink in his hand. "And what role, in this plan of yours, does my son play in this?" he inquired. "What becomes of him?" 

"What interest do you really have in the boy?" Bianca asked smoothly. "Besides, I said 'get rid of all of them'. And he works for them, doesn't he?" she replied. "If he were to turn on you after they died, he could very well ruin everything we hope to achieve. Do you really want him to ruin it?" 

A small chuckle emerged from Peter and he stood up, walking over to the window and staring out of it before looking back at Bianca. "Very well, then, Bianca," he said calmly. "You have my permission to succeed. But if you do not," he added warningly, "then I want you to make sure that they never find out about the prophecy." 

"Of course," Bianca replied as she shimmered out. Peter nodded as he watched her go, leaving him to his thoughts. 

"It will not be long before that girl joins her brother," he said quietly. "Both of them," he added with a small chuckle. He was glad for an excuse to get rid of the boy.

But Peter had no way of knowing that standing not too far away, hidden within the shadows, was his wife. 

And she had overheard everything. 


	5. Escaping

**Legacy: The Past Returns**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Five: Escaping

Wyatt paced outside of the factory, walking back and forth in the alleyway, where he was waiting for his brother with Bobby and Brandon, who looked just as anxious as he felt. "Something's not right," he said finally. "Chris should be here by now." 

"Could you try contacting him again?" Bobby asked, looking up at Wyatt from where he sat on the ground. The younger witch had a worried look on his face as he glanced towards the building. "We should probably try and get in there before the guard changes or they double it or something. It might be easy to get into right now." 

"Easy?" Brandon remarked dryly. "You call breaking into an abandoned factory with demons around every gate easy?" 

"I've tried calling Chris," Wyatt muttered as he continued to pace through the alley. "He's not answering." He didn't voice his concerns that if Chris wasn't answering, then something had most likely happened to him. 

"Why would he do that?" Bobby frowned slightly as he stood up, peering around the corner to watch the demon guards carefully for a minute before returning his gaze to Wyatt. 

"He wouldn't!" Wyatt insisted. "And that's what scares me." He really hated the way that the younger witch was watching him, as though he had done something wrong. If his brother had gotten himself into trouble again, his mother was going to kill both of them. Assuming that they survived this, that is. "Well, he wouldn't do it with all of this going on. If he was in the middle of something, then he'd most likely tell me to shut up or give me some indication that he was all right." 

"So maybe he can't hear you," Brandon suggested, leaning against the wall with his arms across his chest and looking relatively calm. "I mean, he couldn't hear you if he was knocked out or something." 

Wyatt and Bobby both turned to look at him incredulously and he shrugged. "I'm just saying that maybe we should get in there. It's been too long already and I'd say that there's a pretty good chance that Chris has gotten himself captured." 

Bobby looked alarmed at that statement and he looked around. "I think he's right," he admitted, glancing at Wyatt. "Let's go." His fingers started to crackle with fire and Wyatt frowned; something about the way that he conjured the fire was vaguely familiar, but he couldn't for the life of him remember where he had seen that before. 

"Ready?" he asked, glancing at the older two. Wyatt shook his head to clear it and followed Bobby out of the alleyway with Brandon trailing behind them, looking calm and relaxed. 

"How can you be so calm about the fate of my brother and your charge?" Wyatt snapped at him. 

Brandon shrugged. "I didn't say that I wasn't worried," he replied. "Besides, your brother's strong on his own. He can handle himself. And if not, then he's got Susan for back-up. It's like I said before, Dawson women are tough." He smiled mysteriously. 

Wyatt frowned slightly as he stared at Brandon, then shook his head. "You say that like you've known her family or something," he said slowly, studying the Whitelighter, who suddenly looked like a deer caught in the headlights. 

"No," he said, shaking his head vigorously. "I don't. Just her mom. She was a Whitelighter, too, remember?" 

"Oh," Wyatt said, not sure whether or not he believed him. "Right." Turning his attention back to the guards as they approached the gates, Wyatt plunged down into the depths of their power as the two demons, recognising them, reached for their weapons. 

"Hey, guys, you're not really going to try and kill us, are you?" Bobby asked pleasantly. "'Cause, you know, that's way uncool." 

"You!" One of the demons glared furiously at Bobby, who only stared back unblinkingly. The other scowled, refusing to look at the witch who had betrayed them. "You're not going to get through these gates, Connelly! Unless, of course, you plan on begging your father's forgiveness on bended knee!" 

Bobby rolled his eyes. "No," he said firmly. "I haven't." 

"Then you won't be getting through," the demon told him. 

"I think that you'll find that he will be," Wyatt snapped at him, conjuring an energy ball and hurling it towards the demon, who exploded into nothingness the moment that it made impact. The second demon stared at his companion's demise and started to shimmer out when Bobby hurled a series of flames towards him, causing him to be vanquished. 

"Nothing to it," Wyatt muttered as he barged into the factory. Almost the second that he entered the building, he heard his brother's voice shout, _Wyatt!_

Not having expecting it, Wyatt jumped a mile, his heart racing faster than it usually did. Once he had relaxed slightly, he shook his head, turning his attention to his brother. _Jeez, Chris, where have you been? I've been calling you for ages!_

_Figured as much. Sorry, a demon knocked me out from behind. Probably in the factory now. Susan says hi, by the way. _Wyatt rolled his eyes at his brother's wit. _Anyway, we're trapped in this cell and it's got an energy field around it, so that we can't get out._

_Have you tried a spell to get it down?_ Wyatt asked him while he walked with Brandon and Bobby through the entrance, after telling them what was going on. 

_Susan's doing that now, but it's not working very well. Listen, Susan's got an idea on how to get out of this thing, but we're going to need your help for that,_ Chris told him. _Think you can find your way down to us? _

_Yeah, I can follow your voice path,_ Wyatt answered. _No guarantee that I'll be able to get down there without getting captured, though. _

_Wyatt Matthew Halliwell! _Chris said in an uncanny imitation of their mother. _You will stop this nonsense right now!_ Both of them laughed and Wyatt shook his head. _Seriously, Wy, try not to get yourself captured, because I'm not sure if we'll be able to find a way out if you do._

_Sure thing, little brother. _

--

Brooke didn't care that she was breaking about a thousand hospital rules and about a zillion magical ones. The moment she was able to stand up, she managed to get a hold of her clothes and get dressed before using her telepathy to convince the hospital personnel to not notice her slipping through the gates. The moment that she was out of the hospital, she hailed down a cab, heading straight for where she caught Wyatt, Chris, and Susan's thought signatures. She had the horrible feeling that they were going to need her help. 

"You sure that you want me to let you out here, miss?" the cabbie asked her doubtfully as she climbed out, handing him the money. "It's a bad neighbourhood, this." 

"Trust me, I've handled worse," Brooke told him as she looked around. In her line of duty, she had been to worse places—and dimensions—than this one. "Keep the change." 

"Be careful," the cabbie warned her as he backed out of the road and headed back to where he was going. She shivered slightly, worried about her friends as she climbed through the broken gate of the old factory. 

"Susan, what have you gotten yourself into now?" she whispered softly as the guards saw her. 

"Hey, you!" he yelled and Brooke concentrated, throwing the ground into a quake, knocking both demons off their guard and by the time that they managed to get back to their feet, Brooke was already gone into the building. 

They looked at each other. "Should we alert this?" one of them asked. The other one shook his head. 

"Don't worry about her," he replied. "She won't be able to get past the rest of the guards." His companion looked unconvinced, but didn't reply as they continued to make their rounds. 

Brooke walked down the broken staircase as she saw a group of demons below her and she crouched out of view. 

"It's Lord Connelly's orders," one of them said. "The girl dies and so does the boy. After they're gone, the twice-blessed will be too distressed over the loss of his brother to be in the right mind. So when they arrive, then we kill both him and the traitor." 

The blood went cold in Brooke's veins as she heard that and she slowly began making her way downstairs, where she could sense her friends. She didn't dare contact them, mostly because she would rather have the element of surprise when she finally reached them. If they gave something away, however unknowingly, then she would lose that. 

Peter Connelly had made the mistake of trying to kill her friends for the last time. It was bad enough that she had lost Ryan to his father, but she was not going to lose her best friend, too. 

Walking through the series of corridors, Brooke stayed out of sight when she saw a young woman with a fierce and haughty expression on her face, clad in black leather and high heeled boots. Something about this young woman said that she was not one to cross. 

Brooke swallowed as she passed, deciding to follow her. She had the feeling that she was going to lead her straight to her friends. 

But she was not going to be losing them. Not today, not any day. 

--

Susan was lying down on the bench, staring up at the cold, grey ceiling while Chris paced back and forth while they waited for Wyatt to find them. "Honey, will you please stop pacing?" she asked, looking towards him. Chris glanced at her. "You know, that's not going to make them get here any faster. It's just driving me crazy, is all." 

Chris sighed as he walked over to the bench and she pulled up her legs to make room for him. "Sorry," he told her as she sat up, leaning her head onto his shoulder. "It's just all this waiting is making me a little nervous here." He let out a deep sigh. 

"Making _you_ nervous?" Susan let out an uneasy laugh. "Watching you pace like this was making _me_ nervous." She shook her head as she glanced up at her boyfriend. "Do you think Brooke's going to be okay?" 

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Chris said reassuringly. "Although I can't say the same about Connelly once Wyatt gets a hold of him." Susan smiled faintly and nodded as he wrapped an arm around her, drawing her closer to him. "It'll be okay, I promise. And if it's not, then . . . I'll help you blast apart the Elders for sending us on this mission." 

Susan laughed at the thought of him blasting apart the Elders Up There just as a familiar voice said, "You know, if I'd known that I was coming in here to watch you two be really sickening, then I would have told you to find your own way out." Wyatt came into view, shaking his head as Bobby walked up behind him, Brandon joining him. 

"Dad really does hate you, doesn't he?" Bobby observed as he glanced at the energy field that was keeping them there. "I mean, he usually doesn't use these kinds of barriers unless he has a really bad hatred for the person." 

"I'm honoured," Susan said darkly. Chris laughed and Wyatt grinned. Even Brandon smirked as she stood up. "So do you know how to get it down?" 

"Nope." 

"Great," Susan sighed as Chris stood up. "Then I guess we'll have to go with my plan." 

Wyatt raised an eyebrow as she outlaid her plan, which involved them pushing a bunch of debris into the energy field, allowing it to dissolve. And then while the energy field was open for those few precious seconds, then she and Chris would orb through the whole, onto the other side. "You know, that might just work," Wyatt remarked as he tossed a rock into the energy field, watching it dissolve. "Let's try it." 

Wyatt, Brandon, and Bobby all got whatever debris they could find and Bobby wrapped it up with a piece of rope that he had found. When they had finished, it resembled something out of a modern art class. "Shame that we can't put it on display," Wyatt remarked, shaking his head. "Oh, well . . ." 

"Will you just get on with it?" Chris demanded, looking exasperated as he held on to Susan's hand, preparing to orb. 

"Hold your horses," Bobby muttered, shaking his head. "Jeez." Wyatt sighed as he used his telekinetic power, borrowing some from Chris through their telepathy, to hurl the debris towards the energy field. Sure enough, it left a big enough hole for Susan and Chris to orb through and by the time that they materialised, the debris had completely vanished, along with the hole. 

Susan fell back against the floor. "I really hate your dad, Bobby," she said. Everyone chuckled just as they heard the sound of footsteps approached and everyone turned to find Bianca standing behind him, not looking happy. 

"So you managed to escape," she said. "Very clever. Well, enjoy it while you can, because your happy reunion is going to be cut short and there's not anything you can to stop it, witches." Just as she conjured an energy ball, the floor underneath them started to move, throwing all of them off balance. By the time they recovered, Susan looked up to the newcomer, who stood there glaring at Bianca. 

"I'd like to test that theory," Brooke told her. 


	6. Dangerous Schemes

**Legacy: The Past Returns**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Six: Dangerous Schemes

Bianca looked incapable of speech for a moment as Wyatt pushed himself into a sitting position, looking happily towards his girlfriend, who looked relatively unharmed, though completely exhausted. Susan shoved herself to her feet and raced towards her best friend, enveloping her in a hug. Brooke hugged her back while keeping a close eye on Bianca, standing nearby and watching this scene incredulously.

"I was under the impression that you were lying on the hospital bed, in a coma, Murphy," she remarked. Brooke shrugged carelessly. "Suppose we were rather hasty in your case. No matter, I'll just get rid of all of you now." She conjured an energy ball, only to be blown to pieces from behind by one of Wyatt's energy balls.

His brother glanced at him quickly. "You do know that does absolutely no good, right?" he asked. The girls looked at him curiously as Wyatt frowned, not sure what his brother meant by that. "Wyatt!" Chris exclaimed, exasperated. "You didn't forget that phoenixes can reform, did you?"

"Of course I didn't forget!" Wyatt insisted, looking sheepish and embarrassed. "I just . . . didn't remember right away." This caused both girls to chuckle just as Bianca reformed in front of them, not looking happy about being blown up as she glared at them.

"We can do this all night, Halliwell, and I'll keep coming back," she remarked. "You know that you won't be able to vanquish me without that little potion of yours." Wyatt winced; he had completely forgotten about that part. "So, any fantasies on how you wanted to die?" she inquired, looking around at the group. "Who wants to go first?"

She conjured an athame as Susan bit her lip, glancing towards Brooke quickly. Brooke nodded silently and grasped her arm and Wyatt almost jumped when he heard Susan's thoughts in his head. She was using Brooke as a link to talk to the two of them.

_Guys, do you think you can distract her while I try something out? It might just get us out of here._

Chris looked towards his girlfriend warily. _What are you planning on doing? _he wanted to know. _It's not going to be anything dangerous, is it? _Susan only smiled faintly.

_As opposed to the usual, life-threatening dangers that we're usually in? _Susan pointed out. Wyatt suppressed a chuckle at the look on his brother's face. _Look, will you just trust me? Besides, the way that our luck's been going lately, there's a good chance that it's not even going to work. _

_Yeah, remind me to talk to the leprechauns when this is all over,_ Wyatt agreed, earning a grin from Chris and an incredulous look for the girls. _You do know that leprechauns are real, don't you? _

_Unfortunately, we've never actually had the pleasure of meeting one, _Brooke answered, looking thrilled at the prospect of meeting a real-life leprechaun. _But no, I'm not surprised that they are. _

_You'll get along with them great, Brooke, considering that you're half-nymph, _Chris told her. _We get the unpleasant side of them. _

Susan chuckled, then shook her head. _Just distract her, will you?_ she asked, giving a quick glance towards Bobby. The younger witch was eyeing Bianca warily, keeping a careful glance on her movements. _Then we can get out of here and go home. _

_Sure,_ Chris sighed. _But Sue, what are you doing? _

Susan hesitated, then gave in. _Teleportation spell,_ she said quickly before releasing Brooke's hand, leaving her mute to Chris's silent shout of outrage. Unfortunately, Brooke and Wyatt were still able to hear it and unable to prevent their minds from ringing by the force of it.

"You know, why don't we just try and get this over with?" Wyatt said mockingly, taking a step forward. "Take out the worst witch that you're going up against here, Malone. You can take me, then let my brother and friends go. Sounds like a fair deal. I get to save them, you get to create a name for yourself by vanquishing the big, scary twice-blessed." Chris was practically rolling his eyes as he heard this.

"Interesting idea, but not good enough," Bianca replied, conjuring up an energy ball. "You see, it's long been a belief of mine that you never leave behind an enemy that would come after you. So, if I vanquished you, but let them go, then I would just have earned myself three eternal enemies who would just keep coming after me again and again until I'm dead again. And excuse me, but I don't plan on going back to the demonic afterlife anytime soon."

"Funny, 'cause that's exactly where we're planning on sending you," Chris remarked as Susan began muttering under her breath, a spell in an ancient language.

"Not today, Christopher," Bianca replied, glancing sideways at him. "Trust me when I say, not today, because—" She must've caught wind of what Susan was muttering under her breath because she whirled around towards the two girls just as Susan's eyes flew open and she spoke the last word. A clap of thunder roared in their ears as Bianca was transported away from the factory, screaming in fury.

Almost the second that she finished the spell, Susan collapsed onto the floor. "SUSAN!" Chris yelled, racing over to her, Bobby, Brandon and Wyatt at his feet as they ran over to the fallen witch as Brooke helped her to sit up. "Are you okay?" Chris asked, panicked as he knelt down next to her.

"Yeah, I think so," Susan admitted, shaking her head to clear it. "Although I don't think that I'm gonna be trying that spell again anytime soon. Now I know why there were three pages of warning labels in the _Book of Shadows_ after that spell."

"You knew that there was warning labels for that spell and you still attempted it?" Brooke exclaimed. Chris shook his head, exasperated with her, but she was smart enough not to try anything like that again.

"That was an incredibly dangerous spell, Susan," Brandon scolded, but she shrugged.

"I know," she replied. "I'm not going to be trying it again anytime soon, trust me." She shook her head as Chris helped her to stand up and kept a firm hand on her to steady her.

"Where did you send her?" Bobby wanted to know, glancing towards where Bianca had been standing before looking back towards Susan, who smiled faintly.

"Not sure," she admitted. "Hopefully far enough away so that she's not going to catch up to us anytime soon. On the bright side, she should be grounded for a few hours, so she won't be able to shimmer back until we're long gone from here." Bobby actually grinned at that and the rest of them shook their heads. "And speaking of being gone, what are you going to do about your dad?" she asked. "Now that he knows that you're helping us?"

Bobby's amused expression faded and he looked away from her, a bleak look on his face. "I want to get away from here," he said softly, "I do, but . . . I can't. There's my mom, you know. It'd be wrong to just leave her here and not try and help her get away. Besides, you don't know my dad," he added with a sigh. "If I left here to go with you, he'd hunt all you guys down. He would never stop until you were dead."

"Little late for that," Chris thought he heard Brandon mutter, but when he glanced towards the Whitelighter, his expression was placid. Frowning slightly, he returned his attention back to Bobby.

"So you want to stay?" Susan asked him gently. There was no reprimanding, no anger or judgement in her eyes, he noticed, just calm understanding. "If that's what you really want, Bobby, then we'll help you."

"Help him?" Wyatt echoed, looking at her in disbelief. "Help him with what?"

Susan smiled at Wyatt before turning to Bobby, who was looking at her in confusion. "So . . ." she asked pleasantly, "what _was_ that spell that was used to modify my memory the night my family died?"

Brooke, Brandon, Chris, and Wyatt all stared at her and all at once, they shouted, "WHAT?!"

* * *

Deidre Connelly was calm and collective as she dismissed the demons that were guarding the house and she climbed the stairs to her bedroom, sinking down onto the bed, suppressing a sigh as she placed her head into her hands. She stared out the window as the city night life sprung outside, but she took no notice of it, deep in her thoughts.

Her husband had willingly and knowingly gave orders to get rid of their son and his daughter. Sure, he had killed his other son, but she hadn't really believed that he would try and kill Susan, not when it came down to it. And Bobby—why, it was unthinkable! Even if he had allied himself with his sister and the others, there was no reason for Peter to try and kill Bobby because of it. The very thought of it was unthinkable.

And unfortunately for her husband, that was where she drew the line. She had married him, betrayed Susan's mother, bore him a child, stood by him, even against her will, through sickness and in health, through better or worse, but she would not stand by and watch him murder her only child, her baby boy. There was no way she would do that.

So there was only one option; she had find a way to save her son. And the only way she could think of was to get him away from here, away from this life, and away from the father who would destroy them all just to have his own way. Even if she had to sacrifice herself, she would save her son; there was no other option.

The only question was, how? If her husband even got wind of what she was attempting, then both she and Bobby would be dead within a heartbeat. He would not tolerate betrayal. Susan would take care of Bobby's exposure earlier with his father, but in the long run? How could she—

"Susan," Deidre murmured softly, thinking of the young, quiet daughter of Celandine Dawson. There was no other option, no where else to turn to. Her stepdaughter was the perfect solution; if she was anything like her mother was at her age, then she would do anything to save Bobby. And if she could get him to her, then Bobby would be safe under her protection. Even Peter wasn't fool enough to try and get him back while he was under Susan's protection and the two sons of Piper Halliwell.

Her breathing stopped for a minute as she thought about what she was attempting. If Peter found out about this, then there would be no safe place for them anywhere.

Then the obvious solution was not to let her husband find out about it. She had to learn how to guard her mind, to protect her innermost secrets. Ever since she had met Peter, she had never tried to be strong on her own, never tried to stand up for herself. Deidre had let herself get lost in this world and now it was time to find herself again.

But first she had to save her son, first she had make sure he was going to be safe and sound when she was gone. Deidre had long known that she would not long survive the war between good and evil. The only thing that mattered was keeping Bobby safe.

She had no doubt that her stepdaughter would care for him and love him as she should have her entire life. And if things were different, if Peter were the man she had fallen in love with, then she would have made sure that Bobby knew his half-siblings. But the man she fell in love with became a monster and the only thing that mattered was saving her son, with the help of her stepdaughter.

If she lived long enough, that is.


	7. Escaping into the Music

**Legacy: The Past Returns**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Seven: Escaping into the Music

Susan's plan worked wonders. They modified Peter Connelly's memory while he had vanquished and Bobby told him that he had no recollection of him even being in the room with Susan and the brothers when Bianca had been brought back from the dead. For better or worse, they had modified Bianca's as well, so she couldn't tell Peter what Bobby had done. But, as Susan had pointed out, the spell might wear off eventually, so they had to come up with another plan in case it did.

But that was a worry for another day and Saturday night, all four of them headed out to P3, where their cousin Patty was going to be playing with her band, which included its newest member, Bobby. Susan was at talking with Chris and Piper when they were brought on stage and Bobby was taking the guitarist space, his fingers plucking the strings as he began to strum the notes of the first song.

"Hey, looks like they found a new guitar player," Piper said with a smile. "Patty was worried about that, because Quentin left town right when I booked them to play."

"Yeah, looks like," Chris agreed, glancing towards Susan, who was watching the band as they started to play "Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence. "Isn't that Bobby up there?"

"Yeah," Susan agreed, watching her little brother. "It is."

Chris cast her a quick look as Piper looked towards them, a startled look in her eyes. "You know him?" she wanted to know. They both nodded. "His name's Bobby Connelly, isn't it? I remember Patty talking about him. He's a good guy, she said."

"With parents like his, it's a wonder that he's turned out to be as good as he is," Susan replied as she watched Bobby. The moment that he had started to strum the strings of the guitar, he had lost that tortured, haunted look that she was so used to seeing on him and was replaced with a content, elated look.

Piper glanced at her with a frown before glancing up at Bobby, a thoughtful look on her face. "Well, it looks like he's got two friends that will look out for him," she said as she went back to work. Susan watched her go, then looked back at the band.

"He looks happy, doesn't he?" Chris observed and she nodded. "Sue, what's going on? You've been acting strange whenever anybody mentions Bobby ever since we got out of that factory."

Susan sighed, looking towards her boyfriend. "It's a long story," she said softly, leaning against him softly. "I'll tell you later," she promised, "but you are not going to believe it."

Chris chuckled. "Oh, come on," he replied as Wyatt and Brooke danced by them, falling into the music casually. "What could be worse than the son of the man who's been trying to kill us actually being on our side?"

Susan sighed as she looked towards Bobby. "You would be surprised," she answered softly as Bobby's eyes caught hers and once and he actually grinned, looking happy that she was there.

* * *

Bobby was thrilled that his sister had come. Granted, it probably wasn't the best idea for them to seen together in public, but seeing her from a distance was better than nothing. Patty grinned at him from the keyboard as they started playing. The music flowed through him, as it had all those years ago when he started learning how to play.

_how can you see into my eyes like open doors  
leading you down into my core  
where I've become so numb without a soul my spirit sleeping somewhere cold  
until you find it there and lead it back home  
(Wake me up)  
Wake me up inside  
(I can't wake up)  
Wake me up inside  
(Save me)  
call my name and save me from the dark  
(Wake me up)  
bid my blood to run  
(I can't wake up)  
before I come undone  
(Save me)  
save me from the nothing I've become_

He had forgotten how it used to be, when music was so important to him and he used to thrive on it. When his father started putting him on guard duty and other stuff for the Underworld, he'd lost sight of it. And he'd forgotten that whenever something bad happened in his life, that was the one place where he could escape from it and let it all go.

_Now that I know what I'm without  
you can't just leave me  
breathe into me and make me real  
bring me to life  
(Wake me up)  
Wake me up inside  
(I can't wake up)  
Wake me up inside  
(Save me)  
call my name and save me from the dark  
(Wake me up)  
bid my blood to run  
(I can't wake up)  
before I come undone  
(Save me)  
save me from the nothing I've become_

Being around his sister for the last few months, even though it was for fractions of seconds, had given him a sort of perspective about how far off the path he had gotten. His life was no longer in his hands, it was in his father's.

But now it was time to take it back. Starting with his music, that was the first thing. It was time to get back to his own life. Then he would get his mother back, drag her back from the place where she had spent so many years trapped in the darkness, him along with her. And when he had finally saved both of them, then he would go to his sister and finally tell her who he was. He wanted her to know, but if she knew now, then she'd try and save him, no matter what it took. She was like that. It was one of her best qualities.

_Bring me to life  
(I've been living a lie, there's nothing inside)  
Bring me to life  
frozen inside without your touch without your love darling only you are the life among the dead  
all this time I can't believe I couldn't see  
kept in the dark but you were there in front of me  
I've been sleeping a thousand years it seems  
got to open my eyes to everything  
without a thought without a voice without a soul  
don't let me die here  
there must be something more  
bring me to life  
(Wake me up)  
Wake me up inside  
(I can't wake up)  
Wake me up inside  
(Save me)  
call my name and save me from the dark  
(Wake me up)  
bid my blood to run  
(I can't wake up)  
before I come undone  
(Save me)  
save me from the nothing I've become  
(Bring me to life)  
I've been living a lie, there's nothing inside  
(Bring me to life)_

Bobby felt the thrill of playing again as the song came to a close and a cheer went out over the crowd. He looked towards the crowd, then towards Patty as she grinned at him, giving him a thumbs up sign. _"Good job,"_ she mouth at him.

_"Thanks,"_ he mouthed back.

As he carried the guitar he'd bought from Parker—he hadn't felt right about borrowing his endlessly—Bobby suddenly realised that Patty was following him and he slowed to a stop. "Hey, what's up, Pat?" he asked with a grin as she fell into step next to him.

"Thank you for playing with us tonight," she told him. "We would have sucked if you hadn't been there." She paused. "So how would you like to start playing with us permanently?"

"What, you mean . . . like _permanently_ permanently?" he asked, making sure that he understood what she was asking. Patty laughed, but nodded as she slipped her arm around his.

"You looked so relaxed up there, Bobby," she told him. "I haven't seen you like that in years. In fact," she added, frowning slightly, "I'm not even sure that I've _ever_ seen you like that." Bobby had to admit that being up there made him for more alive than he had felt in the longest time. "Maybe you need some time for yourself in your life, Connelly."

Bobby smiled slightly as he looked away. "Yeah, it's definitely time to take my life back," he agreed. "Let me think about it for a day or two," he told her. "Rain check?"

Patty chuckled. "All right, fair enough," she told him as they walked through the streets. It had rained the night before and the streets were still wet, but with the moon glistening overhead, it made San Francisco feel and look bright and beautiful.

And as he looked at Patty, he had never realised how pretty she was until that moment. As she looked towards him, he did the first thing that came to mind. He leaned closer to her and he kissed her. Underneath the moonlight.

**Fade to Black**

**--End Credits--**

Guest stars:

Jack Devonport as Peter Connelly

Drew Berrymore as Deidre Connelly

Alexis Bledel as Patty Matthews-Mitchell

Holly Marie Combs as Piper Halliwell

and Marisol Nichols as Bianca Malone


End file.
